Tragedy on the tracks Mabellene Abou’s tragic death. has once again brought forth pleas for safety/NEWS A9 Locals meet the Queen | UNBC’ '$§ opening drew. a number of | area residents to Prince wo George/COMMUNITY B1 Blast off No snow ‘sno problem for | sledders who'll be burning up the Strip this Sunday/SPORTS C4 WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24,1994 75¢ PLUS Be cst VOL. ay NO. ag" Health money flowing north THE PROVINCIAL government has backed up iis plan for local decision making on health care with $1.035 million. Ill be used for communily- based services ta replace more expensive ones now being offered by northwest hospitals. The money represents a merger of two major government health plans — to remove services where feasible from hospitais and to have health care spending rest with local authorities. And the chairman of a new regional health care group says the money and its allocation will act as_a test for local decision Company gives up Kitlope By JEFF NAGEL SURRENDERING cutting rights to the Kitlope won’t cost local mill jobs, West Fraser Timber of- ficials now claim. “We don’t believe this particu- lar area will cost current jobs,’” senia, §§ vice-president Russ Clinton said last week, The company announced it will give up — withoul compensation — all rights to log the 317,000 hectare valley south of Kitimat. The statement is a significant about-face from what company officials had always said would happen if the Kitlope — the largest unlogged temperate rain- forest in the world — was preserved. They even spelled out the cost three years ago. If the Kitlope and all other pro- posed protected areas within their licence were set aside, they said, 36 jobs at the company’s Skeena Sawmills operation in Terrace would de lost as well as 30 more forestry and silviculture jobs in the bush. That was based on an estimated loss of 92,000 cubic metres of limber per year from West Fraser’s annual allowable cut. The new estimate — that the company gives up 57,Q00 cubic metres of wood a year from the Kitlope and Tsaytis valleys — is lower because it docsn’t include the olher study areas and because less wood could be extracted now under new Forest Practices Code regulations. Bul Clinton warns preservation of the Kitlope could cost future jobs if the government doesn’t start guaranteeing land for long- term forestry use. “In the future the contribution from that area would have un- doubtedly helped to support our harvest level and therefore protect us from any decline of jobs be- cause of insufficient wood supply in the future.”’ Cont'd Page A15 making. | “In a sense it’s a test of the people at the table. They'll have to be truly regional in porspec- live,” said Russell Wiens of Prince Rupert. "They will have to leave aside their community differences, That is really key and imporiant to the whole process,”’ That new regional health group has a working title of the North- west Regional health Board Steering Committee. It’s now in the middle of figur- ing out how a more formal regional health board will opera- le, who will be that board’s mem- bers and how decisions will be Tnade. The official start date for the formal board is Oct. 1. . Feeding into the regional boards will be community. health coun- cils from the Queen Charlotte Is- lands to Housion, up north to in- clude. Stewart and points beyond and then south to Kitimat, Those community councils: are also in the middle of becoming established. Locally, an interim cauncil wants to have its official designation be effective the be- ginning of 1995, The regional and’ community boards will be made up of north- EH Wheel of fortune KITSELAS BAND members Eli McMillan, Terry Collins, Ben Auckland and Glenn Bennett transfer sackeye from the holding tanks of their 12-foot fish wheel into a tote. The wheel — which seemed bent on self-destruction in its first two seasons — has been radesigned and Is scooping up salmon at an Impressive rate. See story Page AS. wesiern residents consisting of one-third government appointees, one-third appointed by local governments and one-third direct- ly elected. Those latter represen- tatives will be elected at the same lime as are municipal councillors, regional district directors and School board members. Wiens said the regional board won’t break up the $1 million by assigning specific dollar amounts to cach community. “We will try to be equitable but we are looking for projects that Test mostly on their own merits,” said Wiens. “We want projects that will serve a demonstrated need,’”’ he added. Those wha do make applica- lions must do so to local interim couumunity health councils by _ Sept..19. They'll then be examined by a northwest committee of health care managers and forwarded to the regional health board steering commiltec, The regional body will then pass its recommendations to the health ministry for final approval. Wiens admitted that the com- bination of setting up a governing structure and looking ‘at project applications will. make fora busy couple of months. Eventually, budgetary decision making will rest with the regional and community health bodies once they are established and in operation. “The whole community will be involved in the health care busi- ness,” said Wiens. “*Hospitais can no longer be regarded as a stand alone opera- tion. Their budgets can be cut by community health councils if there is a serious service and budget shift needed,’’ he said, Pink fishing . regs tighten | POOR RETURNS of pink sal- mon have prompted federal fisheries to close the commercial fishery and slap a catch-and- release restriction on Skeena sports fishermen, The no-kill prohibition takes ef- fect at midnight tonight and covers the entire watershed. David Einarson, chief of the fisherics management section in Prince Rupert, explained counts obtained from the test fishery boat at Tyee indicated only 250,000 pinks had entered the Skeena as of last week, That was far below the 800,000 expecied and just a quarter of this year’s escapement target. As a result, commercial fishing had been closed in the approach waters to the Skeena — areas 3, 4 and 5 - and would remain closed while the pinks were running. Einarson said recreational fisheries advisors had agreed in Skeena=. an Aug. 18 conference call that ; the situation was serious enough to justify closing the sport fishery as well, He atiributed the poor relurn of pinks to heavy rains in the area in the fall of 1992. The resulting . high water had stirred up stream gravel beds. and in turn led to.a high egg mortality rate. ; Poor ocean survival could also be a factor but he said that:con- tinues to be an unknown. . As for other species, test fishery results show coho returns are very low again but at least better than the past two years. The sum- mer steelhead run appeared to be the best since 1988. With the commercial fishery on hoid, Einaron agreed. .“‘that’s bound to increase the escapement for all species’’, He said the commercial fishery in area 4 is slated to resume Sept, 12 but by then the pink Tun will have passed through. Building value record tumbles © THE CITY HAS set a record for building permit vaiues. For the seven months up to the end of July, $15.6 million in permits were issued. That’s more than the $14.7 mil- lion issued for the previous Janu- ary to July record in 1992 and more than the $13.8 million issued for the same period last year, “In July itself we had $1.66 million in building permits issued alone. The previous record was - $1.1 million for e month and that was in 1988,”* said city permits director Bob Lafleur. Lafleur says there’s a good chance the city can break its an- nual record of $23.8 million set in 1992. “We're expecling some fairly major projects. From just two of them, values should be al least $3-$4 rnillion,”’ said Lafleur, © Those projects ar a new aluminum fabrication. and ‘repair shop across Greig from Skeena Cellulose and a new motel along’ Hwy16 West. Permits values in 1993 were $23.4 . million, $11 million in 1991, $14.6 million in 1990 and $11.4 million in 1989. , All building sectors are strong, said Lafleur, with no single. one. outperforming the others. ‘In terms of single family homes, we had 67 istaris to the end of July this year and 66 single family starts to the end of July in 1993," hesald, 5 All the building activily has brought with it new construction and sub trade companies to the point that the price of some tradeswork has dropped ‘because. of competition, said Lafleur. coh pe he Sawmill gives neighbours tough choice | By JEFF NAGEL RESIDENTS OF BRAUN St, say they've been given an ultimatum. Either agree to Terrace Pre- Cut's request to rezone a neigh- bouring property or else watch forklifis from the small sawmill roll through their back alley, “We [eel like we're being blackmailed. or pushed into a comer,”? said resident Phyllis Mayner. She added that she isn't sure IE. that is sawmill owner.’Mo, Taks: har’s intention, but said that it is the perception of her neighbours, Residents’ have fought and defeated the original rezoning proposal once already. Takhar asked city council in May to rezone the house he bought at 2811 Braun — adjacent lo his sawmill — from residential lo light industrial, He planned fo use the backyard to store lumber from. the. mill and. Tent out the itouse, - The. idea quickly. came under fire fromthe neighbours; who. a sald, it, would: extend | a finger of. fete, light-industrial into a land residential area, Counell backed them up and re- jected the rezoning application. by a 4-2 vote. In June, Takhar got a ‘permil to cross Braun St. with forklifts and run them along Pohle Ave. to the — back of another. property, whieh . fronts onto Keith Ave. Pohie is little mere then a bush - trail between the houses at Braun Stand neighbours . are. worried -about the noise and the dang an accident. , Residents allended an Aug. 13 meeting at Terrace Pre-Cut sponsored by Takhar and were asked to sign a letter to suppor! the original re-zone. “We asked.-them what they preferred,” Takhar said. “Hither © way, whalever is better for the. * neighbours - — whatever the neighbours. prefer — then’ we'll go that route.” me Residents were told at the meet- ing they: have tntil. this’ Saturday 40% “choos : between Abe: “original rezone or the Pohle Ave. forklift rouie. ‘*We want an answer ons way or another what the neighbours want,’ he said. '“(t} can’t drag forever. I want to know what they want us to do.”" ‘It’s nol a threat at all, -T just need more room.” Takhar confirmed that a ietter was prepared - supporting . the ‘rezone and ‘that residents at the meeting were asked to sign it. _. They. refused to sign the letter. and coniplained: to. councillors at last Thursday’s plennin mittee meeting. 32 “We've been lookin eal over,’? Takhar added, ‘We just don’t have any options other than those two options.”*: ‘ “Whatever is better for our *. neighbours, I go elther way.” - Mayner sald Takhar is in a ‘dle. ficult ‘position, ‘but said she doesn’t think residents. should have {o agree to an option they al- - ready rejected to avoid something that would be even worse... be